Collapsible lantern

ABSTRACT

A collapsible lantern has a hollow lens unit which receives and houses a fuel tank when the unit is removed from a normal surrounding relationship to a burner assembly mounted on and in communication with the tank. The unit is secured by a releasable structure that includes a pair of opposed sockets, one of which faces upwardly to receive the lens unit when the lantern is normally assembled. A second, downwardly facing socket receives the lens unit when the tank has been received and housed by the unit. As compared to its normally assembled state, the lantern is thus appreciable reduced in height for storage purposes. A top member of the lantern is adapted to also serve as the cover for a storage container for the lantern when the tank is housed within the unit. The container is also adapted to be utilized as a cooking utensil for use with the lantern when the same is normally assembled.

United States Patent 1 Hissem et al.

[111 3,745,328 1 July 10, 1973 COLLAPSIBLE LANTERN [76] lnventors: Coler S. Hissem, 211 E. First St.;

Alfred James, [11, 909 Bittin Bldg, both of Wichita, Kans. 67202 [22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [2]] App]. No.: 237,097

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,154,065 lO/l964 Primary Examiner-John M. l-loran Attorney-Schmidt, Johnson, Hovey and Williams Bencoe ..'...L 126/44 [57] ABSTRACT A collapsibie lantern has a hollow lens unit which receives and houses a fuel tank when the unit is removed from a normal surrounding relationship to a burner assembly mounted on and in communication with the tank. The unit is secured by a releasable structure that includes a pair of opposed sockets, one of which faces upwardly to receive the lens unit when the lantern is normally assembled. A second, downwardly facing socket receives the lens unit when the tank has been received and housed by the unit. As compared to its normally assembled state, the lantern is thus appreciable reduced in height for storage purposes. A top member of the lantern is adapted to also serve as the cover for a storage container for the lantern when the tank is housed within the unit. The container is also adapted to be utilized as a cooking utensil for use with the lantern when the same is normally assembled.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures I Patented July 10, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented July 10, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L loooooool COLLAPSIBLE LANTERN This invention relates to a lantern of the kind in widespread use by campers and sportsmen. One of the more significant inconveniences of the lanterns commonly in use today is their bulkiness which makes it difiicult to pack and store the same, particularly for those persons who do a considerable amount of backpacking, in which instances compactness and lightweight characteristics are of utmost importance.

Two important factors influencing the overall size of the lantern are its fuel supply tank, which ideally should be capable of supplying adequate heat and light for the immediate needs of the user without having to be refilled, and the magnitude of illumination desired.

The supply of fuel contained in the tank should last for to 12 hours under normal operating conditions and the burner assembly should provide a minimum l00 ft. candles of light at 12 inches. The ratio of fuel supply to the weight and overall size of the lantern isvery important and therefore it is desirable that maximum light and heat-producing characteristics be maintained in relationship to such size and weight.

It is, therefore, a very important object of our invention to provide a collapsible lantern that is capable of supplying substantially equal light and heat as other lanterns of comparable normally assembled size, yet weighs considerably less, and is greatly reduced in size when in its disassembled, collapsed state.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a collapsible lantern of the kind which is normally of substantial height yet capable of being collapsed to a relatively compact condition by virtue of complete removability of certain of its components such that the fuel tank may be contained within the lens assembly and the disassembled burner parts rearranged as well as releasably remounted in a relatively shallow arrangement.

Yet another object of our invention is to provide a collapsible lantern having a container for storing the lantern when the tank is housed in thelens unit and adapted for use as a cooking utensil during normal operation of the lantern.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a common top member for use with the lantern when it is normally assembled and for use as a storage container cover when the lantern is stored therein.

It is another object of the invention to provide a collapsible lantern in which the lenses thereof are interchangeable, thus making it practical to maintain only a limited quantity of replacements In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a collapsible lantern made in accordance with our present invention showing the same in its normally assembled state, portions being broken away and partially in section to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the lantern, portions thereof being broken away and partially in section;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, end elevational view illustrating the utilization of a lantern storage container adapted to be placed on the lantern for cooking purposes;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the top of the lens support element showing the separable burner assembly components mounted thereon for storage purposes when the tank is to be housed in the lens unit;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the collapsed lantern placed in a storage container, portions having been broken away and partially shown in section for clearness;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the arrangement as shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, detailed, side elevational view illustrating an alternate embodiment in which the top member of the lantern is adapted to serve as a cover for the storage container, the container and a portion of the member being shown in section;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the storage container for the lantern; and

FIG. 9. is a bottom view of the fuel tank showing stabilizer legs thereon.

Referring to FIG. 1, a collapsible lantern, broadly designated by the numeral 10, is provided with a fuel tank 12, a burner assembly 14 normally mounted on the tank 12 and in communication therewith, a hollow lens unit 16, and releasable structure generally designated 18 normally mounting the unit 16 in surrounding relationship to the assembly 14. The lantern 10 is of a conventional type in which the burner assembly 14 utilizes a pressurized fuel supply for producing light and heat.

The tank 12 is rectangular in configuration and has diagonally placed strengthening ribs 20 formed in the upright sidewalls thereof. A diagonal wall portion 22 of the tank 12 is provided with a fuel filler inlet cap 24 and also supports an air pressurizing pump 26 of the kind normally associated with the assembly 14 such that neither the cap 24 nor the pump 26 extends beyond the upright walls of the tank 12.

The burner assembly 14 includes a valve 28 mounted on the tank 12 and is provided with a control 30. The assembly .14 further includes a plurality of separable components comprised of an air intake tube 32, a generator 34, a carburetor tube 36, a mantle holder 38, and a mantle 40. A support element 42, being a part of the structure 18, is secured to the valve 28 by a threaded nut 44 and releasably receives the tube 32 when the lantern 10 is in its normally assembled condition. The tube 32, in turn, releasably supports the carburetor tube 36, mantle holder 38, and the mantle 40. A fuel outlet port 46 of the valve 28 releasably receives the generator 34 and maintains it in operational relationship with the air intake tube 32.

The element 42 is comprised of a horizontal, rectangular plate 48 having an upright flange 50 extending in opposite directions about the periphery thereof to present a pair of opposed sockets 52 and 54. The releasable structure 18 further includes a thumbscrew 58 which is received by an upright, threaded stud 60 on the carburetor tube 36.

The lens unit 16 has a rectangular four-sided frame 62 which is normally received in the socket 52 of the element 42 and is provided with a plurality of upright corner mullions 64 and intermediate mullions 65 which receive and retain a corresponding number of interchangeable heat resistant, flat, rectangular lenses 66. The frame 62 further includes an upwardly facing, U- shaped lens support channel 68 which extends along the lower edge thereof and an upper, downwardly facing, U-shaped, removable channel 70 which engages the top edge of the frame 62 in a spring-like fashion,

, both of which cooperate to retain the lenses 66 in the mullions 64 and 65.

A rectangular, dome-shaped member 72, also a part of the structure 18, having a lower horizontal cross section generally conforming to the horizontal cross section of the unit 16 provides a top for the latter and normally retains the same clamped to the element 42. The lower edge of the member 72 presents a downwardly extending flange 74 that fits over the upper channel 70 and which, in conjunction with the stud 60 and thumbscrew 58, holds the member in position. A removable chain bail 76 is attached to an outer surface of the member 72 by any suitable means.

An open top storage container 80 is adapted for use with the lantern l and is provided with a bottom wall 82 having an inwardly projecting indentation 84 for purposes which will be made clear elsewhere in the specification. A cover 86 for the container is secured thereto by a pair of over-center latches 88.

At such time as the lantern is to be collapsed for storage, the structure 18 is released by means of removing the thumbscrew 58 from the stud 60 in order that the member 72 may be removed from the unit 16, thus enabling the latter to be lifted from the socket 52. The removal of the unit 16 from the socket 52 reveals the unit 16 to be provided with a pair of opposed, open ends identified by the numeral 56 in FIGS. 1 and 5, it being understood that the plate 48 and member 72 cover the ends 56 respectively when the lantern 10 is normally assembled. The exposed components 32-38 of the burner assembly 14 may now be separated and respectively placed in a series of spring clips 78 which are permanently affixed within the socket 52 to the plate 48 as seen in FIG. 4. Because of its fragile nature, the mantle 40 is disposed of at this time, it being a simple matter to attach a new one to the holder 38 when the lantern 10 is next assembled.

To store the lantern 10 in the container 80 the member 72 is first inverted and placed in the bottom of the container such that its flat surface 90 rests on the indentation 84 after which the unit 16 is deposited in an upright position on the member 72 with the end 56 at which the channel 68 is situated being uppermost. The fuel tank 12 is placed within the hollow lens unit 16 by passing it through the exposed end 56 such that the socket 54 of the element 42 receives the channel 68 of the frame 62 as best shown in FIG. 5. If desired, the unit 16 might also be deposited on the member 72 so that the channel 70 rather than the channel 68 is uppermost. The bail 76 and the thumbscrew 58 may also be deposited in the container after which the cover 86 is placed in position on the container and held by the locks 88.

The entire lantern has now been disassembled and conveniently packaged such that its overall height has been reduced by approximately one-half, yet has not been compromised in its ability to usefully produce an adequate supply of light and heat comparable to that of other lanterns of the same normally assembled height. The lantern 10 is easily reassembled for use by reversing the above described procedure.

The rectangular shape is advantageous in that generally less storage space is required by articles having this configuration, although the invention is applicable to other forms as well. Yet another advantage of the rectangular configuration is that all of the lenses are of a uniform planar shape and size so that only a relatively few replacements need to be kept on hand and may be conveniently stored in a minimal amount of space such as in the bottom of the container 80. Replacement of the lenses 66 is easily accomplished by removing the upper channel 70 so that the lenses may be slipped into or out of the mullions 64 and 65.

The container is constructed so that it may serve as a cooking utensil for use with the lantern 10 when the same is normally assembled by placing it on the surface of the member 72 as seen in FIG. 3. The inden tation 84 permits contact of the wall 82 with the sur face 90 by providing clearance for the thumbscrew 58.

The tank 12 is provided with a plurality of stabilizer legs 92 which extend outwardly and laterally from beneath a bottom surface 94 as seen in FIG. 9. The legs 92 are slidably carried by a series of brackets 96 and are limited in their outward extension by stops 98, each of which engages a respective bracket 96.

A horizontally disposed, U-shaped bracket 100 is affixed to an end of the container 80 for receiving a handle (not shown) for use when the container is utilized as a cooking utensil. A pair of vertically disposed, U- shaped loops 102 on a side of the container 80 permit the user to thread a belt therethrough for carrying purposes such as when back-packing. A pair of clips 104 (one only of which is shown) near the top of the end walls of the container 80 receive the bail 76, thus enabling the user to utilize the same in carrying the container 80 or suspending it from a suitable support.

A modification of the invention is shown in FIG. 7 wherein a top member 172 is large enough in horizontal cross section to enable a downwardly depending flange 174 thereof to pass over the open end of a container and thus be capable of also serving as a cover for the same when the tank 12 is housed in the unit 16. In this case the upper channel 70 of the unit 16 would merely be spaced somewhat inwardly from the flange 174 when the lantern is normally assembled. A pair of latches 188 releasably secure the member 172 to the container 180 when the member 172 is used as a cover.

It is to be understood that in all respects, except as above noted, the components of the lantern are the same as those shown in FIGS. I6 and 9, the use and end results of the modification illustrated in FIG. 7 being equal to the embodiment shown in the abovementioned Figures.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible lantern comprising:

a lantern base, comprising a fuel tank provided with an upper wall,

said tank having a flat bottom engageable with a supporting surface;

a burner having a fuel control valve above said wall and rigidly secured thereto in communication with said tank;

a horizontal plate overlying the valve and rigidly secured thereto, rendering the valve accessible between said plate and said wall,

said burner being provided with a plurality of heat and light generating components extending upwardly from the plate;

a hollow, open-bottom lens unit provided with a top and with transparent sides,

said unit housing said components and resting on said plate whereby the latter closes said bottom of the unit;

6 one of said components being releasably attached to from said components and plate, inverted, and the Valve; placed in a position housing the tank with said bot a second of said components being releasably at tom of the latter above said top of the unit, tached to the plate; and

a releasable fastener attaching said top of the unit to 5 i z g z t P if provided s devlcs said second component for holding the unit or etac a y 0 mg Sal components t ereon clamped against the plate, a horizontal position when the components are resaid tank bein smaller tha aid it h b upon leased after placement of the tank into said unit.

release of the fastener, the unit may be removed 

1. A collapsible lantern comprising: a lantern base, comprising a fuel tank provided with an upper wall, said tank having a flat bottom engageable with a supporting surface; a burner having a fuel control valve above said wall and rigidly secured thereto in communication with said tank; a horizontal plate overlying the valve and rigidly secured thereto, rendering the valve accessible between said plate and said wall, said burner being provided with a plurality of heat and light generating components extending upwardly from the plate; a hollow, open-bottom lens unit provided with a top and with transparent sides, said unit housing said components and resting on said plate whereby the latter closes said bottom of the unit; one of said components being releasably attached to the valve; a second of said components being releasably attached to the plate; and a releasable fastener attaching said top of the unit to said second component for holding the unit clamped against the plate, said tank being smaller than said unit whereby, upon release of the fastener, the unit may be removed from said components and plate, inverted, and placed in a position housing the tank with said bottom of the latter above said top of the unit, said plate having an upper face provided with devices for detachably holding said components thereon in a horizontal position when the components are released after placement of the tank into said unit. 